1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the handling of web-type materials in the building and construction industry, and more particularly to a roller designed to be supported upon a vehicle hitch receiver and configured to roll thermal insulation blankets such as are commonly used in colder weather to protect freshly poured concrete and for ground thawing applications, and which may also be used to roll other web building and construction materials that present similar challenges in rolling and storing.
2. Description of the Related Art
During construction of a building, pouring a concrete pad or surface, masonry work, landscaping, excavation, and in other construction projects, there are occasions that may arise in which a roll or web of material will be unwound or otherwise extended to a full longitudinal dimension that may be much greater than either width or thickness of the material. Such is the case when concrete is poured during weather too cold or too hot to facilitate proper curing. Other situations might, for exemplary purposes only, include the placing of large sheets to form temporary shelter during construction in inclement weather, or a myriad of other situations too numerous to separately list or describe herein.
While it is known to incorporate various additives directly into concrete that will improve the curing and setting of the concrete at lower temperatures or higher temperatures, there are still temperature limits within which optimum curing and optimum ultimate strength will be achieved. If weather conditions are forecast to be either too cold or too hot to ensure optimum or sometimes even safe characteristics, or when temperature control may alter the curing speed favorably, a builder may elect to control the environment within which the concrete cures. It is known in the prior art to form a covering over the concrete using thin polyethylene sheeting, and heat, cool or otherwise control the air space between the polyethylene and the concrete. This method has several drawbacks, not the least of which is the relatively soft and fragile nature of the polyethylene, which may tear or come loose from anchors. Further, the plastic sheet has quite low softening and combustion temperatures, so a heater may inadvertently melt or even ignite the sheeting. Tears, separation, melting or combustion will expose the concrete directly to the temperatures that were to be avoided, and can even be the source of fire that could damage not only the concrete but also surrounding construction. In such cases, at a minimum the concrete will be completely lost and will need to be removed, disposed of, and the site prepared once more for a new concrete pour. The need for heaters, air conditioners, or other devices is also undesirable since these devices must also be transported to and left at the job site, where they may be stolen or may fail. In either case, not only will the concrete suffer the undesired fate which the sheeting was to prevent, the shelter above the concrete may in fact exacerbate the problem. For example, if the air space is being cooled on a hot sunny day, failure of the cooling equipment may result in the plastic forming a greenhouse over the concrete, which could lead to temperatures even greater than if the plastic were never used at all.
In contrast to polyethylene sheeting, insulation blankets are stronger and more durable, essentially temperature insensitive, and provide substantial thermal insulation that in many cases may eliminate the need for any supplementary heating or cooling. Instead, the thermal insulation which may for exemplary purposes be formed from webs of insulation, commonly known as concrete curing blankets or insulated blankets, is sufficient to use the average ground temperature and thermal mass of the building material or ground to provide suitable temperature moderation. In extremely cold weather, both the concrete as poured and the ground below will desirably be sufficiently warm that, with sufficient thermal insulation above, concrete will not freeze during cure. Likewise, in extremely hot weather, the thermal blankets will limit concrete to temperatures close to the ground temperature which is generally substantially cooler than air, while also preventing sunlight from undesirably heating and drying the concrete.
Unfortunately, and in spite of the many benefits and advantages of insulated blankets, there remain a number of drawbacks that have heretofore limited the desirability of using them in building and construction projects. One limitation is the average size of an insulated blanket, which in the industry may typically be five and one-half feet wide and range in length from eight to twenty-five feet. This large size is desirable since it reduces the number of seams when in use, thereby also reducing the likelihood that any harm or undesired exposure of the protected area will occur. Unfortunately, the large size also makes an insulated blanket very difficult for one worker to handle or carry if the blanket is extended or even folded.
Similar problems arise during transport of insulated blankets. Even though there may be very few blankets to transport, a separate trailer may be required just to transport the insulated blankets from one location to another. Insulated blankets, owing to their size, are generally too large to be secured in the bed of a pick-up truck, even when folded in the ordinary manner. The insulated blankets are instead often carried onto a trailer and folded to be able to fit the length of the trailer. Even when positioned on the trailer properly, a person will often still have trouble reliably securing the blankets to the trailer with tie-down straps or the like without harming the blankets. This is due to the soft compressible materials that the insulated blankets are made from, and the intrinsically large surface area, combined with low mass, of the insulated blankets. Simply stated, a person must tie down the blankets sufficiently to ensure that no portions of the blankets are free to pop up and catch in the wind while being transported down the road. This must be done without damaging the insulated blankets directly with the securing straps. Once again, this added time loading and securing the blankets limits the number of applications where a builder will even consider using these blankets.
There are a variety of carts that have been provided for deploying or rolling up fence, wire, mesh, pool and ground covers in the prior art. Exemplary of these are U.S. Pat. No 565,054 by Trembly, entitled “Reel carrier;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,273 by Saunders, entitled “Roll carrier;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,414 by Patnaude, entitled “Pool cover dolly;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,755 by Brown, entitled “Automatic laying and retrieving ground cover apparatus;” and U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,080 by Patnaude, entitled “Dolly;” the contents and teachings of each which are incorporated herein by reference. While illustrating potentially useful and beneficial carts, each of these apparatus undesirably require the transport of the relatively large and complex cart to and from location, and the expense of fabrication associated with such a cart. Several also have no provision for use with more than a single web or roll of material.
A few patents are exemplary of reels or dispensers that are coupled to a vehicle through a receiver hitch. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,186 by Hull et al, entitled “Towline reel attachable to a trailer hitch receptacle;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,900 by Conroy, entitled “Receiver hitch spooled wire dispenser;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,471 by Albritton, entitled “Fence dispensing apparatus;” the teachings of each which are incorporated herein by reference. These patents do not provide any apparatus that would be of use in both unrolling and rolling insulated blankets or other like materials used in the building and construction industry.
Additional patents from which teachings are incorporated herein by reference include U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,321 by La Barre, entitled “Truck tarpaulin reel;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,980 by Raasch, entitled “Roller for truck cover;” U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,854 by McClure, entitled “Tensioned unrolling device for fabric rolls;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,330 by Barazone, entitled “Apparatus for laying paving fabric;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,229 by Barazone, entitled “Compact apparatus for laying paving fabric;” U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,970 by Barazone, entitled “Paving fabric stretching mechanism;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,314 by Hughes, entitled “Cable reel level wind mechanism;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,588 by Jackson, entitled “Winch rotator for all terrain vehicles;” though these patents may be somewhat less relevant than the aforementioned patents. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is additionally incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.